THE JOURNAL
The MR PORTER team on how they’re equipping themselves against the barrages of the elements this season.
Even for the man with the most rudimentary of bathroom sink rituals, there will undoubtedly be a product or two in his grooming arsenal that he’d rather not do without. And so when you find a product that really works for you, it can quickly become a cornerstone of your grooming maintenance. For some of us, that means having a few products we can rely on to make us look our best, and for others a good vitamin C serum is the difference between looking alive or undead. In the interest of sharing some of our best-kept grooming secrets, then, we asked the MR PORTER team to tell us what skincare products they’ve been using this summer, and why they’ll be keeping them around.
I’m not sure where my proclivity for unconventional skincare comes from, but if it’s weird I’ll probably try it – from sci-fi-esque sheet masks to serums you apply with glass pipettes, my bathroom cabinet resembles an apothecary from Blade Runner rather than a cupboard above the sink. Dr Dennis Gross Skincare’s Alpha Beta Ultra Gentle Daily Peel fits the bill nicely in this respect, but its merits are more than the sum of its futuristic-sounding parts, and it’s one of the best things I’ve used on my skin in recent years. It works as a resurfacing peel, which sounds drastic, but it is much gentler than exfoliating (hence the name) and will leave your face looking fresh. Consisting of two tiny sachets, the peel can be used daily, but I prefer to save them for special occasions.
This will be the first summer ever, I think, that I have completely managed to avoid looking like a boiled sweet 20 per cent of the time, and it’s largely thanks to this excellent sun cream. It’s got a lovely light texture, rubs in easily, smells excellent and also packs a bunch of nourishing, pollution-battling ingredients such as vitamin E acetate and edelweiss (which must be good, right?). You find yourself putting it on for the sheer pleasure of it rather than because you have to. Which is as much as you could ask for from a suncare product.
Age comes to us all, whether we like it or not. There’s a big difference, however, between accepting your fate and letting yourself go. That’s why this summer – my 32nd on Planet Earth – I’ve decided to adopt a more proactive attitude towards skincare. Given that my current regime is best summarised as “moisturise when hungover”, it shouldn’t take a lot of effort to see some real improvement. To that end, I’ve just invested in a five-pack of bio-cellulose facial masks from 111Skin, a brand founded by the renowned Harley Street dermatologist Dr Yannis Alexandrides. Not only do they rejuvenate a dull, washed-out complexion, they also terrify your housemates.
I am not really a summer person. I am the guy sweating on the Tube, gulping gallon upon gallon of water in a bid to cool down. Most of this percolation occurs above the shoulders (a typical symptom of hyperhidrosis, or increased sweating), which is why it’s important that I use a good facial scrub to wash away a day of debris, sweat and whatever else seeps out of my overzealous pores. I swear by this one from Spanish brand Natura Bissé – its gentle micro-granules help slough off dead skin and dirt while its high vitamin C count and rosa mosqueta oil helps restore moisture and leaves skin looking supple. What’s good is that a little of this goes a long way, and it smells great, too. Follow it with the brand's vitamin C+C moisturiser for top results.
When I first read the words “cold plasma”, I immediately thought: Mr Evelyn Waugh! For in the first novels of that giant of 20th-century literature, people are forever going off to put cold cream on their face at night. It was a sort of in-joke, because some of his aristocratic friends had modelled the stuff for Pond’s. At any rate, that is what pricked my interest – and praise be that it did because it is very good indeed. It was created by Dr Nicholas Perricone and is packed full of goodies such as vitamin C and alpha lipoic acid, which have the pleasing effect of tightening and smoothing skin (what more can one ask for?). It is especially good if you have overdone it on the sun lounger. Someone ought to put it in a novel.
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